Paid Sick Leave Preemption Introduced in Texas

Yesterday was opening day of the pre-filing season in the Texas Legislature and one of the 400+ pre-filed bills would preempt municipalities from adopting or enforcing any ordinance requiring an employer to provide paid sick leave to an employee. House Bill 222 also voids any ordinance that requires an employer to provide paid sick leave, such as the Austin and San Antonio PSL ordinances.

The legislative session opens on January 8, 2019. Given that Texas has a GOP trifecta—Governor Greg Abbott and Republican majorities in the House and Senate—the political stars seem aligned for this bill to have a good chance of passing. If enacted, the bill would be effective September 1, 2019.

That the bill was pre-filed comes as no surprise. The ink was barely dry on the Austin ordinance when state legislators promised to introduce a bill to preempt it. The Austin ordinance had been scheduled to go into effect on October 1, 2018 but its implementation has been enjoined pending the outcome of the litigation challenging its validity. The San Antonio ordinance is effective August 1, 2019.

The pending legal challenge to the Austin Ordinance argues that it is already preempted by the Texas Minimum Wage Law. The legislature’s passing this preemption bill would remove any doubt about that.

If enacted, House Bill 222 would make Texas a PSL preemption state, the 22nd such state according to my count.